After leaving school, Naruse and Naoko went to a second-hand store near the station. The store door was open, but there was no one at the counter.
"Did Mr. Shioyue go out again?"
"It's hard to say."
As soon as the two entered the store, someone popped their head out from between the shelves: "Welcome... It turns out to be Song."
"Excuse me." Naoko said and looked at Naruse.
The "pine" in Chao Yueming's mouth is naturally him.
Chaoyue Ming is very bad at remembering people's names. Ever since he learned that Naruse is the son of the female star Matsu Chiaki, he only remembers this and directly calls him Matsu.
After repeated corrections to no avail, Naruse could only let it go. In this store, he is just loose.
"Are you sorting it out?" He walked over.
Chao Yueming nodded and retracted between the shelves.
Naruse put down his schoolbag to help. The passage was narrow, so Naoko didn't go over to make trouble. She lowered her head and looked at the things on the counter.
What Chao Yueming put on the shelves were several leather bags.
This store does not accept used clothes, but for luxury goods such as leather bags, which are relatively easy to sell, they will collect them in small quantities. Naruse often sees some young women visiting the store.
The leather bags on the shelves already have price tags on them.
Naruse picked up an LV camera bag and looked at the price. It cost 140,000 yen.
When he was "young and ignorant", at the instigation of his "friends", he "disposed" of some "unused" bags for Matsu Chiaki, one of which was similar to this one.
Seeing him sigh suddenly, Chao Yueming came over and took a look.
"Are there any flaws?"
"No..."
Naruse came to his senses and put down his bag.
"This batch of goods looks to be in good condition. Are they all S-class?"
"This is S-level, and the others are SA or A-level."
The so-called S grade refers to products that are 90% new or simply unused, followed by SA grade and A grade.
There were not many things to sort out, and the two quickly returned to the counter.
Naruse sat down next to Naoko and took out the client's mechanical watch.
"Can you repair a watch?"
Chao Yueming took the watch, looked at it over and over for a while, and then quoted an exaggeratedly low price.
"No, I'm not selling it...it's too cheap."
"That's the price for this kind of off-brand watch." He stared at the dial and said, "Isn't it on time?"
"Well, I said I haven't worn it for a while."
"Has the back cover been opened?"
"I don't know."
"It may be that the internal lubricant has dried up."
After studying for a while, Chao Yueming put down his watch and looked up at him: "Do you want to repair it?"
"Are you free now?" Naruse asked.
"Available."
"That would be troublesome."
Chao Yueming nodded, then cleaned up the table, cleared a slightly clean area, and began to disassemble the watch.
First the strap, then the back cover, and then the manual winding core.
Naruse lay outside the counter and stared motionless, while Naoko sat next to him and spent more time looking at him.
The three of them held their breath unconsciously, and time flowed silently.
By the time Chao Yueming disassembled the watch, filled the core parts with oil, and then reassembled it, the sky outside had already darkened.
"Okay."
After turning the core and adjusting the time, he returned the watch to Naruse.
"Will there be no error in this way?"
"It's almost there. If there are still errors, it means it's not a problem with the lubricant."
Da, da, da——
Naruse stared at the second hand moving from 5 to 6, "Then do we still need to repair it?"
Chao Yueming straightened his arms and stretched restrainedly.
"That's beyond my ability to solve."
Even if there is an error, it cannot be seen immediately. Naruse put away the watch, thanked him, and asked about the cost.
Chao Yueming shook his head slightly and said no, "Song usually helps me a lot."
He collected the screwdrivers on the table.
"And I enjoy it too."
Naruse smiled and said, "Mr. Shioyuki, would you like to be an outside consultant for our Tsugao Restoration Department? In the future, I might often bring you some weird things for you to repair."
Chao Yueming glanced at him, Shangzi, and nodded in agreement.
By the time the two of them left the antique store, it was completely dark.
Feeling a little hungry, Naruse took Naoko and planned to find a place nearby to fill his stomach before going back.
The Central Station area is considered to be the busiest area in Tsumae. The two of them walked around for a while and found that there are many restaurants to choose from.
"Just this one."
"Yeah."
The two finally chose a seafood barbecue restaurant, and the restaurant was almost full.
“The crab lids in this shop taste very good.”
"Has Shangzi been here?"
"Well. When I was in the third year of secondary school, my classmates and I..."
Naruse listened to Naoko's introduction while ordering. When she felt that it was almost done, he handed her the ordering device.
"Would you like to add scallops? They are said to be a specialty from Mutsu Bay."
"Come on. Mutsu Bay..."
Next week, the third-year students of Prefectural Tsu High School will go on a school trip to Kyoto, while all the first-year students will go for an excursion to Mutsu Bay, which is much closer.
"The last time I went to Mutsu Bay was when I was in elementary school."
"Well, Chunhai went with me that time."
"It should be said that everyone from school went there. Haixing also got motion sickness, which is really embarrassing."
"Harumi spoke ill of Haixing behind his back again."
After ordering, they each ordered drinks. Without waiting for too long, the seafood they ordered was delivered one after another.
Some have already been cooked, and some still need to be baked on the grill with full power - the store staff can help, but both of them chose to do it themselves.
Putting the prawns also produced in Mutsu Bay on the grill, Naruse waited for a while and decided to try Naoko's recommendation first.
He carefully picked up the crab lid. After heating it, a rich aroma hit his nostrils. A handful of green chopped green onions were sprinkled on the surface. As soon as he took his mouth, the thick crab paste was so dense and salty that it almost melted his tongue.
The silky crab meat has a distinct texture, accompanied by a bit of milky aroma. Naruse guessed that some dairy products may have been added during the production.
"How is it?" Shangzi looked at him.
Naruse licked his lips and said, "Order two more portions."
She smiled and said, "Okay."
Afterwards, the two of them abandoned the sauce provided by the store, dipped it in crab paste directly, and ate a table full of seafood.
At the end, Naruse was still a little unfinished, but just looking at the time, it was already getting late.
"Come again next time."
"Hmm."
The two of them were packing their things.
"I'm thinking, let's eat out on Fridays from now on." Naruse suddenly suggested.
Shangzi looked at him, his eyes bright, "Okay."
After leaving the barbecue restaurant, the two went straight to the bus stop to catch the last bus home.
After walking for a while, Shangzi grabbed his arm and said, "My stomach feels so full..."
Naruse immediately slowed down.
"Is it hard?"
"Well..."
She held his arm and said, "It's okay if you walk slowly."
"Then slow down. There are still ten minutes, there is still time."
Shangzi nodded.
The two of them walked hand in hand and walked slowly, and when they arrived at the bus stop, there were indeed a few minutes left.
"——Hey, Chunhai?"
His vision was dim, and Naruse looked away from Naoko's face, only to realize that the figure in the corner of the platform was Hikaru Takigawa, and Starfish and Yue Takigawa were also beside her.
After greeting the three of them and getting responses from two of them, Naruse asked again:
"Didn't Guang ride here today?"
"The motorcycle is parked in the school."
Hikaru Takigawa came over, "Both Yue and Haixing are here, and I can only take one person with me, so I just took the bus with them... What's wrong with Naoko?"
"Eat enough..."
Naruse was suddenly poked on the waist, and Naruse immediately shut up.
"My stomach feels a little uncomfortable," Shangzi said herself.
"Are you okay?"
Takigawa Hikaru came over and said, "There is some stomach medicine in Yue. Do you want to take one?"
"No need...I'm much better now."
After staring at Shangzi for a while, she nodded with some relief.
"Starfish?"
In the corner, Takigawa Yue found that Haixing was frequently casting his gaze at the three people there.
"It's okay..."
Two or three minutes later, the last bus finally stopped. Five people got on the bus one after another. Haixing was pulled by Takikawa Hikari and sat behind Naruse Monk.
"Social activities?" Hikaru Takigawa asked.
Naruse was startled for a moment, and when he turned around, he suddenly realized that what she wanted to ask was the reason why he and Shangzi came back so late.
"Absolutely. Because I was hungry, I ate outside and then went back."
"Ah, just like us."
Takigawa Hikaru smiled, and Naruse glanced at the starfish next to her, who had been looking out the window.
The bus swayed, Naruse turned sideways to speak, and Naoko also turned around, facing him.
"Sister Yue is going on a school trip next week. Do you still want to go to a private school on the weekend?"
"I'm not going, I'll study at home these two days." Takigawa Yue said.
Takigawa Hikaru continued: "The departure time for the school trip is the same day as our first-year hike to Mutsu Bay. Otherwise, I would still want to send the moon off."
"Three days and two nights, it's really good." Naruse sighed casually, his eyes wandering unconsciously on the profiles of Naoko and Haixing.
"I heard that the original plan was to go to Osaka and Nara for seven days and six nights, but I don't know why it was shortened later."
"Safety reasons?"
"I don't know..."
The five of them chatted all the way. When someone other than Naruse spoke to him, Haixing would also start a few words.
Buzz——
The phone suddenly vibrated and kept vibrating.
Naruse took it out and saw it was a phone.
"Mom?"
"..."
Haixing looked over immediately and looked into his eyes for the first time after boarding the bus.